Agent Coulson Archives - GeeksHaveGame

January 3, 2015January 5, 2015

S.H.I.E.L.D. / EAST of WEST / MIRACLEMAN / X-O MANOWAR [Reviews]: Happy ‘All-New’ Year!

Since comics dropped on NEW YEAR’S EVE last week/last year, there’s a demonstratively short list of comics to review– but that’s not going to stop us. As we ready and prepare our “Best of 2014” lists and 2015 preview, let’s get in a short stack that’s worthy of any Sunday Stash.

Happy New Comic Year.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 - Marvel Comics — **S.H.I.E.L.D. #1** – Marvel Comics

"Cardinal" Roberto de Bexar @RobBex2 — “Cardinal” Roberto de Bexar @RobBex2

When I got the assignment to read S.H.I.E.L.D., I had no idea who the creative team was. I just knew that I loved the show and I knew that it would be following along with the show– at least a bit. All you need to know is that Mark Waid and Carlos Pacheco are the dynamic duo on this book. With just mentioning those two guys, I could rightfully end this review, but I shan’t. So, come with me baby birds, I’ll feed you some great knowledge.

I think that issue #1 of Waid’s (Fantastic Four, Daredevil) run is actually what people were hoping for from Joss Whedon’s pilot episode. It gives some backstory to Agent Coulson, it has Avengers galore, really cool cameos AND it throws Coulson and his team right into the midst of the action. Waid doesn’t just throw this team into the fray, but into an Asgardian fray. Now, this shows why you can always do more in comics than in television shows, but that is neither here nor there. Waid also captures Coulson’s voice. When you read the book, you hear Coulson. Waid has always had a gift of not only dialogue, but also knowing and understanding the characters.

You see this in any of his books and this is going to just shine in S.H.I.E.L.D. While I could just bask in the shiny glory of Waid on this books, let’s skip on over to the impeccable art done by Carlos Pacheco (X-Men, Age of Ultron) . His work is always very clean, very crisp, and just over all beautiful.

The only drawback to the issue that I have (and it isn’t even with Waid or Pacheco, but with the Marvel U. in general) is that I don’t know exactly when this takes place continuity-wise. Here, the heroes are all dressed in Post-AXIS garb, but acting like their Pre-AXIS selves. Sigh.

Still, this is an issue that I want in my collection. Waid and Pacheco are just too good to not pick up the book on a monthly basis. Go out and pick it up. For anyone who is a fan of the show, this will be a great compliment to the series. For anyone who is complaining that the show is too limited due to monetary constraints BUT loves the characters on the show, this will definitely be your cup of tea and for anyone who doesn’t like any of it… well I can’t help you. This is another memorable Mark Waid book.

I can feel it.

X-O MANOWAR #31 - Valiant Comics — **X-O MANOWAR #31** – Valiant Comics

"Heirophant" Luke IG @lukepoisoner — “Heirophant” Luke
IG @lukepoisoner

Hot on the heels of their big summer crossover Armor Hunters, Valiant cook up more troubles for Aric of Dacia and his sentient alien Manowar armor – The Armorines. This particular issue highlights the conceptual similarities between X-O Manowar and Iron Man, bringing Aric face-to-face with highly unsavoury characters of the military-industrial complex; but being Valiant, it gives the familiar tropes their own unique and inventive twist, as well as striking a very different beat to the current Superior Iron Man series.

Robert Venditti (Green Lantern, The Flash) continues his lauded run scripting the adventures of the time-lost hero Aric as he comes to terms with the modern world – and he, with it. The artwork of Brazilian wunderkind Diego Bernard and Witchblade alumni and inker Alisson Rodriguez jumps off the page; this is one of the glossier and boldest titles on the stands this week. For new readers, this is the perfect jump-on point for anyone wanting pure comic storytelling from a company with a burgeoning interlinked continuity that isn’t likely to be rebooted again anytime soon. Is anyone else getting sick of that? 4/5 Tony Starks.

ALL-NEW MIRACLEMAN ANNUAL #1 - Marvel — **ALL-NEW MIRACLEMAN ANNUAL #1** – Marvel

“El Sacerdote” J.L. Caraballo Twitter @captzaff007

I’ve never been familiar with Miracleman (formerly known as Marvelman, up until the 1980’s) but knew of his troubled publication history and deconstruction in the 1980’s and 1990’s by Alan Moore, and later Neil Gaiman. He once again enjoys some meta-deconstruction in this annual issue in two separate stories by two separate creative teams in All-New Miracleman Annual #1. Grant Morrison (Batman Inc.) and Marvel CCO(!) Joe Quesada‘s dark, prequel-esque story focuses on the former Kid Miracleman prior to the Battle of London was written over 20 years ago, and features beautiful, brooding artwork and dark, thematic overtones to a simple — yet powerful — tale. To see it brought to publication—finally!—is well worth the wait.

Closing out the annual issue is a tale from Peter Milligan (Justice League Dark, Red Lanterns) and Mike Allred (Silver Surfer), who take a look back at Miracleman’s lighter, buoyant days. Easily recognizable as the Silver Age of comics, this tale sees Miracleman, Young Miracleman, and Kid Miracleman overcoming wave after wave of destructive forces before coming to a profound realization. This light, buoyant piece is gorgeously drawn, and is a bright reminder that within comics, stakes can be high and consequences severe without resorting to undo bloodshed, violence, or brooding darkness. The lightness and energy to this piece (especially when contrasted to Morrison’s darker, yet equally profound preceding piece) is refreshing, and is a great reminder that, at their core, comics are meant to be fun. The final zoom-in is a great visual callback to his Project Zarathustra storyline from back in the day. The issue also comes with illustrator’s notes, original retrospective from Grant Morrison, and comparative illustrations and notes about the layout and comparison to Miracleman artwork from the past. For any collector — and fans of this obscure, troubled character — this annual is highly recommended. 5/5 Kimotas.

EAST of WEST #16 - Image Comics — **EAST of WEST #16** – Image Comics

Ryan "Salvation" Sott @ radio_adventure — Ryan “Salvation” Sott @ radio_adventure

You’re over at a friends house and they are watching an episode of a tv show you’ve never seen, but you decide to settle in and watch anyway. In spite of all the questions and all of the unknown, you are absolutely hooked. That is the experience I had reading East of West #16.

The year is 2065 and Mad Max has met with Judge Dredd over at Image Comics, and it is gloriously fun. Neither of said characters are directly involved in the book, but their influence is splattered all over the vast landscape.

There are quite a few subplots going on in this book, but the main chunk is devoted to rescuing Governor Bel Soloman from hanging, as he has been overthrown from his political office in future Texas. Democracy is a burden in which the series’ protagonists would like to ease the world from.

Writer Jonathan Hickman (The Avengers) and artist Nick Dragotta (FF) make the perfect team for this futuristic sci-fi epic and though East of West #16 was my first, it will certainly not be my last. 4.5/5 Bibles.

September 25, 2014

AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D. [Season 2 Premiere Review]: 0-8-Awesome!

Thanks to the obligatory call back of events from episodes prior, the rag-tag team of Agents is now under the guidance of Director Phil Coulson (played superbly by Clark Gregg), trying to find their way in a world that fears them as much as they fear Hydra.

As much of Season One was predicated on the fallout from the events of Captain America 2: the Winter Soldier, this latest addition follows suit in a big way by extending the MCU with easter eggs galore.

Bursting out of the gate – quite literally — Agent Peggy Carter, Dum Dum Dugan and Jim Morita of the Howling Commandos (played by Haley Atwell, Neal McDonough and Kenneth Choi, respectively) storm the last remaining Hydra storage facility in 1945 Austria. It is there that the SSR, or predecessors of S.H.I.E.L.D., encounter the very first Object of Unknown Origin: a mysterious obelisk designated 0-8-4.

Flash forward to present day, the item in question is up for purchase to a group of mercanaries led by Xena – I mean Lucy Lawless – where things inevitably go wrong. The reason for this mishap is courtesy of one Mr. Carl “Crusher” Creel (played by Brian Patrick Wade), who fan of the Incredible Hulk comics will recognize as the Absorbing Man. With the level of computer technology today, this character was able to look like a viable member of this Universe. As Coulson and his team try to bolster their ranks from the shadows, it becomes evident that Hydra still has plenty more heads to cut off.

So there we have the crux of Season Two. Hydra and a meta-powered human now control what could speculatively be an Asgardian treasure (I’m thinking Norn Stone), S.H.I.E.L.D. has almost no resources (except the Quinjet stolen at the end of the episode) and the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

The most exciting factors about this episode and those to follow are the levels of detail given to each character. First off, you have Coulson himself thrust into an impossible situation, the there’s the traitor in the ranks (Agent Grant Ward as played by Brett Dalton), then finally you have the mental degradation of their top scientist (Agent Leo Fitz as played brilliantly by Iain De Caestecker).

With all this interplay amognst the core group of Agents, the addition of characters like Absorbing Man and Hydra Official Daniel Whitehall a.k.a. the Kraken help to bolster the widest and most comprehensive cinematic universe to date.

Don’t be surprised if there’s a Guardians of the Galaxy cameo in later episodes.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs on ABC every Tuesdays at 9/8c.

http://youtu.be/vPeuhGmXSn0

May 14, 2014May 14, 2014

AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D. [Season 1 Finale Review]: The Grateful Alive.

Just in time for the announcement that ABC was moving Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to a 9 p.m. time slot for the show’s second season, the MCU’s first television series finished off its premiere season with a bang. Well, a few bangs, a couple of explosions, several melee combos, and a rib stab. Yeah, that’s right. Someone face got stabbed with they own rib on primetime. While much of AoS’ first season tended to fall apart in the beginning, it started to stabilize again around the mid-season break, and continued to really kick it into high-gear with episode 17 – around the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. With last night’s season finale “Beginning of the End”, AoS stuck the landing as well as it could – considering the really shaky flight paths.

It should be stated up front that it’s going to take a lot to silence the inner-child in this Disciple long enough to write an objective review of a show like this. My adult-self recognizes many of the problems of the show — which I won’t get into here seeing as to the rest of the internet has already; but it’s hard not to be in awe that, not only do we live in a time where we have an ongoing Marvel movie universe that is artfully serialized and interconnected, we have a big-budget television show with supplemental storylines that are directly affected by what happens in that said universe.

Is that JESSICA DREW? Shh. Come on, man. I'm trying to take a good look at Mockingbird! — “Is that JESSICA DREW?” Shh… Come on, man. I’m trying to peep at MOCKINGBIRD!

Can we just be grateful for that for just one second? Sure it could have been better, but it could have also never existed? It’s better to have loved then lost. Er, maybe that isn’t the right context.

When in Rome?

That being said, it was definitely tough to see the name Whedon attached to a TV series about a rag-tag group of adventurers on a flying craft not be amazing. It was even tougher when there were complete sections of the season that weren’t even good. Granted, Joss Whedon has had his full attention on Age of Ultron — and it’s awfully difficult for any show to find a strong tone and voice in the first season. So just imagine how impossibly amplified that task was for a show that’s affiliated with some of the biggest movies of this generation! That being a double-edged sword, Agents was really allowed to finally blossom because of the Hydra-turn in Winter Soldier; which has given the eponymous Agents, and the show as a whole, a clear mission – a mission that was beautifully setup in the finale.

“Beginning of the End” is not really that apt of a title for this final episode. It’s a cute play on “End of the Beginning,” the title of episode 16, but we all know that nothing really ends in the Marvel Universe, it just kind of becomes something different and in this case S.H.I.E.L.D isn’t really ending, it’s going through another origin story.

Clearly raging after the missed Jordan restock. — Clear account of ‘Lok’s miss on that recent Jordan restock.

The episode begins with the really underwhelming reveal of who’s been pulling the strings of Mike Peterson (J. August Richards) — a.k.a. Deathlok — and the other eye-controlled soldiers: Cybertek industries. The scene mainly serves the purpose of transitioning to the main characters while setting up the fact that Cybertek has been “incentivizing” it’s employees; which is played as a joke in the beginning, but when it’s revealed what those incentives actually are, it makes these employees feel sicker than the writers probably wanted them to be. That’s when the episode picks up where the last one left off…

(Flip the page for more Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.!)

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March 25, 2014March 25, 2014

AGENTS of S.H.I.E.L.D [PaleyFest ’14]: Down the Stretch, Ridin’ Dirty.

Hey, The Divine One here. With a big TV festival like PaleyFest going on, you can bet I have another serving of full-on geek goodness for you all. We’re at the Dolby Theatre, so let’s crank it up!

With an early screening of the next episode (April 1), you can bet Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. panel was especially awesome. Oh yeah — much like D23, some of us were blessed to watch the full ep ahead of time. More importantly, it’s pretty damn great! I’m sorry I can’t share any of the finer details with our lovely congregation, but just know that if by any chance you’ve been undecided — or previously disappointed — with S.H.I.E.L.D., this is the episode that will win you over.

More good news: Starting April 1st, ABC will air seven episodes in a row — including the season finale. No breaks or reruns! Producer Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween) also mentions that following the comeback episode is Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which hits theaters just a few days later, and “an episode (of AOS that) WE wouldn’t want you to miss” right after on April 8.

Our moderator this evening, Felicia Day (Geek & Sundry), pounced on the tease. “So is there a tie-in with the movie that directly affects the show?” After the series referenced instances of the S.H.I.E.L.D. program in The Avengers and Thor sequel, Loeb slyly says that “it would certainly not surprise anyone if things that happen in (The Winter Soldier) affect the show you’re talking about.” You clever Marvel people. Always prepared!

Marvel also addressed earlier in the panel that although the show’s future is uncertain (at press time, ABC has yet to pick up next season), they are ready. Producer Jeffrey Bell (Alias) claims the producers knew “where they wanted to go with this season and they know where Season 2 and Season 3 are going to end. And we know which character will still be alive. This is, in fact, a Joss Whedon joint.”

The man who leads the team, Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg), has been going through rough times lately, especially in his discovery of how he came back from the dead. How will this affect him going forward? “The real dilemma has been Coulson starting to feel physically the way a lot of trauma survivors do…he doesn’t feel the same.” Well that and the fact that they basically wiped your memory and made you think you were on a beach in Tahiti! ”How can you work for an organization that traffics in secrets and not have secrets kept from you?” Looks like Coulson has figured it out and is far from happy with the big bosses.

Ming-Na Wen’s character…

(Cont. on next page!)

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September 25, 2013September 25, 2013

AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., Episode 1 [Review]: Easter comes early.

Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division.

Nah.

Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.

Not really.

Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

Yes. That one!

Whatever you want to call the fall season’s most anticipated new show, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is here and it’s time to assess all the damage. Before we break down the breakdown, there’s no way to avoid mentioning that Joss Whedon is fully firmed in the ABC network driver’s seat. You know, he’s that guy that directed some movie called Avengers. Some Buffy thing. And a Firefly. Joining him at the Exec Production table is brother Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen. With the ridiculous success of Marvel’s films comes some enormous expectations for everything else, particularly from often infamous, sometimes dilarious Comic-Con crowd.

Good thing Nick Fury handed off the reigns to the right group.

header-marvels-agents-of-shield-first-full-promo-trailer.html — If it’s a Ghost Rider, I’m quitting.

“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” follows the aftermath of The Avengers and picks up right where Iron Man 3 left off. You get the sense that the tragic events of those films have come to pass, but are far from forgotten. And, unless you’ve been under a rock in the past few months, you already know that Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg, reprising his role from previous Marvel films) is back…and alive. Expect more about this scenario despite some of the explaination right off the bat.

Coulson’s “postumous” life goal, at least currently, is to put together a team of specialists to help deal with the dilemma of super-powered heroes and villains. There’s the black ops muscle of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton, “Army Wives”), mysterious pilot Melina May (Ming-Na Wen, “Phineas and Ferb”), and resident brainiacs Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker, 16 Years of Alcohol) and Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge, The Thompsons). The first mission of this new group is to track down a man (J. August Richards, “Angel”) who uses super human abilities to save someone from a fire. In the beginning of their investigation, the Agents come across a spunky computer hacker named Skye (Chloe Bennet, “Nashville”) who filmed the heroics. Lucky them.

But, this is Whedon we’re talking about. Of course it’s more than meets the eye.

agents-of-shield-trailer-j-august-richards — You mean Marvel couldn’t just call me a dude with a name rhymed with “Age”? Now that’s fudged.

As usual with the Serenity director, there’s lots of set-up and character establishment. There’s also just enough time in the hour time slot for the audience to warm up to the group. Ward and May are the obvious bad-ass fighting veterans; and the partnering of Fitz and Simmons (sounded more like a law firm!) has much potential to be an equal part squabbling/equal part brilliant comedic duo. Yet, it’s perhaps already apparent that Skye will become the season’s most relatable figure. Complete with attitude and sharp wit, she’s more obsessed superhero fangirl than an actual threat of taking them down. But don’t sleep.

Even so, I still have my doubts about Coulson running the show. He’s obviously a spectacular man, but now the agent’s placed in a significantly different spot. Instead of carrying out every mission for Sam Jackson’s Mr. Fury (who’s rumored to make an appearance this season, but come on), Coulson’s now left calling the shots. Seems to me like he’s leading this group by rank over experience. With that, Whedon’s signature sarcasm and smart-ass humor stirs throughout the show like a chef adding special spices to his best sauce. It’s enough to keep “Agents” from becoming too serious of a drama and retaining the overall fun of the comic world.

agents-of-shield-la-2-8-2-13 — Bipolar, we are not.

Also, be on the lookout for the aforementioned Richards superhero, Mike Peterson. Moody alluded to this in the D23 Podcast — because the Divine One is a company man — that there’d be some Slackstick involved. He’s not Luke Cage, nor is he Rage. The producers are simply just borrowing a name from an obscure comic. Expect a lot more of those instances in comparison to the more straight-forward adaptation of DC heroes in CW’s “Arrow.”

Will the fanboys be pleased with such eclectic easter-eggs? Will they be craving too much of the traditional Marvel U superheroes (i.e. Black Panther, Doctor Strange)? Either way, “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is strictly going to focus on that: the agents. And despite hints of explosions, crazy camera angles (most of the show is portrayed from the frame “bottoms up,” perhaps to show how intense or immense the gravity of the superhero phenomenon truly is), and CG, this is a TV show, after all. More importantly, “Agents” offers a lot of loyalty to the comic book world. There’s fancy tech and weaponry, mentions of “gamma radiation”, “extremis” and “super soldier serum” among other essential references to Marvel characters, and the cool of Cobie Smulders reprising her role as Agent Maria Hill.

So long as the creative team at the top continue to keep its S.H.I.E.L.D. within the Marvel Universe as possible, it won’t matter what the hell the acronym stands for.

4bibles1 — AOS, Ep 1. = 4 (out of 5) Bibles.

December 21, 2012

The Shield invades the.. WWE? Holy $ht! Holy $ht!

No, guys. Not Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos. But, rather, three castoffs from World Wrestling Entertainment’s NXT division:

-Dean Ambrose

-Seth Rollins

-Roman Reigns

The Who?

Trust me, these guys are impressive. After their unbelievable Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at the.. well.. TLC Pay-Per-View versus Team Hell No (Kane & Daniel Bryan) and Ryback (a.k.a. New-Berg), The Shield may prove the most vicious stable to hit pro wrasslin’ since the N.W.O.

Even cooler, these new guys even denounced any sort of New World Order intentions; The Shield have instead placed their destructive dominance for “justice” over pure comedic rebellion. And it couldn’t come at a better time, with Triple H and the boys in the back turning their most prevalent villains to babyfaces: the aforementioned Kane & Bryan, The Miz, and even Alberto Del Rio.

When Chris Jericho’s scheduling woes deterred his umpteenth comeback (look for him at January’s Royal Rumble, otherwise do they really need him when they already have a Y2Jish “good guy” Miz?) and Brock Lesnar did what Brock does (quit before he begins), The Shield couldn’t arrive at a better time, as their performance at TLC proved this will be no flash-in-the-pan situation, either.

People, people, people. These newbies beat down ECW legend Tommy Dreamer! They pummeled, without hesitation, the ever-stubborn “Nature Boy” Ric Flair! I mean, the “Nayyyy-ture Boy!”

Yes, that same guy who had only been growing older by the second over at TNA/Impact — with that same wonderful golden flowing hair — had returned to the WWE.

At least for one night.

shield300 — “Millions of Dollars” my white ass, Titus!

Let’s face it: WWE fans have been clamoring for an NWO for quite some time now, and yet while these young thugs might prove “no-names” to some, they certainly proved worthy of that ultimate threat status. Now, if they keep adding worthy members to the stable each month– that’ll be something.

Hmm…this reminds me… Why have Reigns, Ambrose and Rollins threatened the rest of the WWE with “The Sword”? I mean, this pastor highly doubts these dudes were referring to the good folks over at the Sentient World Observation and Response Department. We’re well past midnight on 12/21/12, Abigail Brand and Lockheed won’t be needed to conquer any extraterrestrial terrorist attacks in the WWE. No, “The Sword” could very well in fact be.. Brock, especially since The Shield has steered clear of Lesnar’s manager Paul Heyman and anyone associated with him (WWE Champion CM Punk).

But I’d still put money on Les’ content enough nesting up his kidneys with Sable over in Minnesnowta.

If not Brock, think maybe Agent Phil Coulson is available? Vic Mackey?

I beat Dishonored. While Bethesda’s latest IP was certainly a standout over at E3, I couldn’t help but feeling a little mixed about the end result. With that, I mean ending. Before I dig into yet another end-game-disappointment (see Halo 4), Dishonored ended up a tad differently than expected — in both positive and negative ways. Firstly, this reviewer swore the publishing developers of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — arguably one of the greatest medieval role-playing games ever — would make Dishonored the steampunk skinned open world version of Skyrim. While the first person gameplay certainly reflects 2011’s GHG Game of the Year, Corvo’s missions play
New Bedford, Massachuetts in 1862. Ain’t a damn thing changed.
much more linearly than that. With that said, there’s typically several ways to accomplish these goals. Also, it’s far easier to remain stealth in Dishonored than say Assassin’s Creed or Goldeneye, particularly when you can save your game at will. Saving your game whenever you want proves a huge benefactor if you’d rather choose to hide in the catacombs for most of the game. If any of those assholes find you and alert the rest of the other sissies, you can just reload to your last game point and try to hide-and-sneak again. As the game progresses, more soldiers will become abundant, and there’s a huge twist that sends the gameplay into a freakish horror-show with BAMFing ninjas. Yes, Dishonored certainly flips the menial tasks towards a higher level.. only to crack like a wooden plank. I’m not quite sure if its publishing deadlines or lack of thinking the story through the whole way before creating, but a lot of games these days have been more about “the journey” than “the destination.” Thankfully, Dishonored is a uniquely exciting journey through a mid-1800’s Victorian seaport with top-notch art direction and arousing power augmentation. That, I can certainly recommend.